A match in Moldova in the early rounds of the Europa League is unlikely to quicken the pulse rate of Tottenham fans yet should they beat Sheriff Tiraspol tonight, it would represent a significant improvement on last season’s campaign.

Tottenham won only two of their first-round matches in this competition in 2012-13, even though head coach Andre Villas-Boas often chose many of his first-choice players, and they secured qualification for the knock-out stages only in their final game.

A win over the national champions would put Spurs on the brink of the last 32 with three Group K games to spare, and would give Villas-Boas greater flexibility to rotate his squad in the matches that remain.

Jan Vertonghen (above) believes Spurs’ progress in Europe owes much to the more powerful, adaptable group of players now present White Hart Lane. Gareth Bale is gone and while any team would miss a player with such flair, the Tottenham squad has greater depth as a result of the £86million they received from Real Madrid for the Welshman.

Spurs are only three points off the top of the Premier League and they have won all their cup games to date, while rarely fulfilling the potential they clearly possess. “You have teams like City, United, Arsenal, who have very strong squads, but I think our strength is our bench,” said Vertonghen, in his second season with Spurs after joining the club from Ajax in the summer of 2012.

“We have the same situation in the Belgium national squad. We can bring players on to the pitch who are unbelievable and we even have players who are not available at the moment. Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal have very strong squads, but ours is one of the strongest, 100 per cent.

“If we win tonight, we are almost in the next round, and it would allow us to get some rest. Compared with last year, we can play some players who are coming back from injury, and others who have not had many minutes, so it will be important to have a good game and to win.”

The depth of Tottenham’s playing staff was illustrated in the 2-0 win at Aston Villa last Sunday. Following the 3-0 home defeat by West Ham, Villas-Boas decided to bring in Vlad Chiriches, Sandro and Lewis Holtby, who had played mainly in the cups until then.

His choices were vindicated and, more importantly, he can now give others a breather, allowing Mousa Dembele, Aaron Lennon, Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Jermain Defoe – along with Emmanuel Adebayor, who has travelled to Moldova – to return to the starting XI.

Spurs have missed out on Champions League football by a whisker in each of the last two seasons, but Vertonghen has warned his team-mates that they have few excuses for doing so again.

He continued: “For us first prize would be the top three or top four, and then hopefully we can win a cup. Of course that’s what we want and what this team deserves.

“We have to aim high with these guys and everybody knows that. We are all aiming higher than last year, so we will be very disappointed if we can’t get it.

“The league is even tighter than it was last year. You have to win games [against teams like Aston Villa] and that’s why it’s a shame we were beaten at home by West Ham. These games are so important, to keep us up in the top three or top four.

“I don’t think the top teams will drop too many points against the lower sides. They will drop points against each other, so we have to make sure we win the other games.”

Adebayor could make his first appearance of the campaign for Spurs, which will be a fascinating element of the match as the club were desperate to sell him last summer. Barring a remarkable turnaround in events, they are likely to try to do so again in January, with Villas-Boas and technical director Franco Baldini keen to bring in at least one more striker during the winter window.

Kyle Walker, Andros Townsend and Paulinho have all been rested for the game, while Etienne Capoue, Danny Rose and Younes Kaboul remain absent because of injury. Kaboul will be keen to regain fitness quickly, not least because he is in the final year of his contract.